2023-24 Activity Report: CDCB Board Chair Column
Written by Lindsey Worden
October 01, 2024
As published in the 2023-24 CDCB Activity Report
It has been another exciting year for the Council on Dairy Cattle Breeding! Over the past year, the Board of Directors and staff have been focused on developing and then executing the new strategic plan that will guide our future initiatives and priorities. I’m pleased to share more about this plan with you.
The process began at our April 2023 CDCB board meeting, where board members engaged in collaborative exercises and discussions. These sessions generated many pages of ideas and concepts, which staff spent the next several months refining and developing into what has become the 2024-2026 Strategic Plan. At our December 2023 meeting, this plan was presented and endorsed by the Board of Directors. I am proud of the work done to align CDCB’s strategic priorities with the evolving needs of the global dairy industry.
This strategic plan serves as both a roadmap and a commitment to our stakeholders, emphasizing our focus on driving genetic progress and positioning CDCB to lead through innovation and collaboration. Shaped by input from each CDCB member sector, the plan sets the course for CDCB’s vision: to be the leading source of genetic information for dairy improvement, advancing genetic progress, animal health and sustainability.
The plan centers around five strategic priorities.
Each of these areas has a series of activities associated, which you will hear more about as initiatives progress. CDCB’s commitment to these priorities drives our efforts to ensure that dairy producers have access to the most accurate, comprehensive genetic evaluations to improve their herds.
The landscape in which all the dairy community operates continues to evolve rapidly. Market pressures, weather challenges, technological advancements and consumer expectations are reshaping our industry. These forces highlight the need for robust genetic tools that enhance efficiency, adaptability and resilience. CDCB’s strategic plan addresses these challenges by prioritizing development of new traits, enhancing and securing data flow, upgrading technology infrastructure and other key areas, ensuring that our genetic evaluations remain relevant and forward-looking, and safeguarding a strong, secure National Cooperator Database.
In closing, I thank the fellow board members, the CDCB staff, committee members and partners for their dedication and contributions, and thanks to the dairy farmers whose contributions sustain the CDCB mission. Together, we will continue to drive meaningful progress in dairy cattle breeding and work toward a bright future.